Women's Basketball Earns Split in First ACC Road Trip

Bears rebound from their Thursday loss to Clemson with a solid victory over SMU on Sunday

Ioanna Krimili and Lulu Twidale all smiles after the SMU victory

The California Golden Bears hit the road for the first time as members of the ACC Conference with a visit to Clemson last Thursday, followed by a matchup against SMU Sunday afternoon in Dallas. Coming into these games, Cal was #21 in the KenPom rankings, while Clemson was at #103 and SMU was a few notches higher at #97. In the preseason polls, Clemson was finished to pick 13th(out of 18 teams), Cal was picked 14th, and SMU was selected to finish in 16th place. Cal has exceeded expectations in the preseason during their 13-1 start, while Clemson and SMU were playing near their the expected level.

Thursday, Clemson 69 - Cal 58

The first half was a well executed, evenly balanced matchup. Both teams were running their offense and finding their shots in rhythm. Both teams took 30 shots, with Cal connecting on 15 and Clemson on 14. Cal only took 6 3-point attempts, as they were getting inside looks and short jumpshots at will. Clemson held a slim 36-35 lead going into the break. Ioanna Krimili led the Bears with 13 points at halftime. She accounted for the only two made 3-point baskets for the Bears. Marta Suarez had 8 points, and Michelle Onyiah had 6 for the Bears.

The second half was all Clemson.

The Tigers turned up the speed and aggression on defense, and disrupted the Bears’ ball and player movement. The quarter-by-quarter shooting chart tells the story.

Clemson outscored Cal 25-11 in the third quarter and led by 15 going into the fourth. Clemson held steady the rest of the way and won 69-58. After the game, Coach Smith said;

“I think they were just really aggressive, and you could tell they had a sense of urgency, and they really wanted to win this game, and I didn't think we matched their intensity level. It was a poor shooting night for us, for sure. But this is road basketball in the ACC and we've got to be better.”

The same issues plagued Cal as they have a couple other times this season.

• Michelle Onyiah played with 3 or 4 fouls for the majority of the second half, forcing her to be less aggressive on both ends. This opened up the driving lanes for Clemson to take advantage of.

• The 3-point shots weren’t falling for Cal. The final numbers are skewed because Cal took so many long range shots in the fourth quarter in trying to come back. But even before then, Cal was forced out of their rhythm and game flow. When that happened, and Onyiah is in foul trouble, Cal can’t rely on an inside game to try to make up the difference. Cal’s game is predicated on perimeter ball and player movement to look for openings for drives or shots.

• The bench scored 3 points in 36 minutes of playing time.

Clemson completed their weekend by beating Stanford on Sunday. I expect them to continue to improve as the season goes on.

Sunday, Cal 81 - SMU 66

Cal rebounded with a complete game en route to the 81-66 victory over SMU Sunday afternoon. Cal led by four at halftime, then built a double digit lead midway through the third quarter and maintained the solid lead for the rest of the game. Four Cal players scored in double digits. Kayla Williams posted an impressive 17 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals in leading the Bears to the win.

Most notably, the items in bullet list above did not present themselves. With Cal in control, Michelle Onyiah played sparingly, only logging fifteen minutes. Her minutes went to the reserves, with the second squad contributing 19 points and 10 rebounds in their combined 67 playing minutes. Of note, Jayda Noble played 24 minutes and contributed 4 points and 9 rebounds.

My favorite play came from the reserves.

The 4-outside/1-inside starting set is the most common starting point for Coach Smith’s Bears. The perimeter players constantly rotate and cut, looking for a point to penetrate, take a good shot, or to gain an advantageous entry pass.

The play above is almost like a zone clear-out football play. As #2 Jayda Noble initiates from the top, #3 Zahra King cuts to the basket before rotating towards the corner. The defense is playing soft off of her and #23 Anastasia Drosouni, the wing who starts in the corner. Drosouni rotates towards the top, then immediately cuts towards the basket through the space that King just vacated. SMU’s Tiara Young is late on the switch to Drosouni, and Drosouni gets to the basket unimpeded. She then displays deft footwork against the shorter Young, and finishes with the layup. Anastasia Drosouni is a sophomore who did not play last year due to injury. She scored a career high 7 points against SMU.

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The Bears are now 14-2 overall, 2-1 in ACC play. It is their best start since the 2012-13 season. That season ended with the Bears in the Final Four. They host #22 NC State(11-3, 3-0) on Thursday, and host Florida State(13-2, 3-0) on Sunday. Let’s all get to Haas this week and support Coach Smith and the Bears!